When your teachers or parents get on your case for playing Fortnite, tell them you are sharpening up your soft skills. You’re learning, not gaming.

New York Magazine describe Fortnite as “the most important video game on the planet”. More than 125 million players around the world in just one year would seem to agree.

Fortnite Battle Royale provides plenty of excitement and variation, bunging 100 players into a winner-takes-all death match, complete with tons of cool weapons and gear you can personalise.

You can play alone, or join up with others to build, accumulate and fight your way to that elusive Victory Royale. Even if you are wasted early, you control your own fate.

Easy, free and most of your mates are doing it

Because it’s both free and fully mobile set up, the game can be incredibly addictive. It’s easy and being completely free, attracts players who may not be full on gamers but who are keen to jump on the trend.

While it might be set up as fun entertainment, Fortnite can also help you get hold of some really important lessons for life in general.

Here are 7 life lessons you can get from playing the world’s biggest video game:

1. It Teaches You To Adapt

You can’t control exactly where you’re going to drop in Fortnite, what you get and what other players are nearby.

The better you adapt to each new situation, the better you’ll do. This applies bigtime out of the game too.

2. It Teaches You Learning And Preparation

Fortnite players start with nothing, but if you already know how to spot a bush wookiee, you’re ahead of the game.

Learning from each game, avoiding mistakes you made last time, and preparing your mats well for the middle and endgames are needed to win Fortnite.

The more you learn and the more you prepare, the closer you are to that victory royale, on the screen, when you’re studying and training, or when you are on the job.

3. It Teaches You Teamwork

Fortnite can be played solo or you can play as part of a team. Joining commandos with constructors makes your odds against the alien hoards way better.

Co-operation and communication are vital for a team to succeed. In Fortnite and in life.

4. It Teaches You Patience

Hint #1 in Fortnite: build before you battle. Time can be you friend in most stages of Fortnite, time spent finding, building, observing.

Rushing headlong into the fray has its fans, but is rarely one of Fortnite’s, or life’s, winning strategies.

5. It Teaches you Resilience

“I get knocked down, I get up again, you’re never gonna keep me down” – the chorus of British punk band Chumbawamba’s global chart topper from over 20 years ago should be sung by every Fortnite player.

Each game brings pressure, emotions, one winner and lots of losers. No player wins their first game, and you lose plenty more before you get the game under control. The more you get back up again, the closer you get to success. Everywhere.

6. It Teaches You Strategic Thinking

Strategic thinking can lead to smart decisions which you need to work your way to the top in Fortnite.

This thinking helps you to be able to define your objective, work out a plan to achieve this but then to be able to honestly and realistically revaluate the plan when things go wrong. Sounds like we should be doing this everywhere.

7. It Teaches You The Role Of Luck

At the start, you have a 1-100 chance of winning Fortnite. Practice and skills can see your odds improve, but even experts can’t win much more than 10-20% of games.

There is always that chance of bad luck heading your way in Fortnite, just as it does in the real world.

A famous sporting quote says: “The more I practice, the luckier I get”. Planning, preparation and practice can make you ‘luckier’, in Fortnite and away from the game as well.

So, Fortnite is more than a game and global phenomenon – it’s setting you up with the soft skills your career advisers are telling you will be necessary in your future careers.